In order to improve English skill of students in the Tsinghua-UNC EMBA Program (run by the Department of Industrial Engineering), an English Saloon was held by the Program Office in Shunde Building SPR Café on November 16, 2012. In such a delightful evening, students and alumni of the Program, the Department and the IUP Chinese Center, as well as Tsinghua SEM 2011 and 2012 IMBA students participated and had a wonderful time together. Native English teachers from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Tsinghua University, were also invited and took part in the event.

As English communication was the main purpose of the event, Tsinghua-UNC EMBA Program students were encouraged to communicate in English with other participants with various backgrounds and nationalities. The event was begun from an introduction to the elevator etiquette in the United States by a foreign teacher from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Afterwards, the organizers delivered cards to students and encouraged them to exchange cards after communication in English with others. It was announced that there would be a special prize for the one who collected the most cards. Later, some games were played and raised fierce competition among students. These games were designed to arouse the students’ enthusiasm to speak English. Everyone got great fun from the event.

Students participating actively in games

Mr. Xunshu Liu, a Tsinghua-UNC EMBA student from Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical, appreciated the saloon greatly. It was the first time he participated in such an event, and he was very glad to share opinions with other students from different countries. He said, "the saloon not only allowed me to practice my English communication skill, but also showed me the vigor of Tsinghua students." Ms. Xiaomei Zheng, a Tsinghua-UNC EMBA student, who engaged in tea business, talked about Chinese tea culture in English during the event, and warmly invited everyone in the saloon to her tea company to have an experience of tea picking and tasting.

A Tsinghua-UNC EMBA student communicating with an invited guest

Finally, Mr. Xunshu Liu won the prize for exchanging the most cards. The event ended with the address of the Executive Director of the Tsinghua-UNC EMBA program expressing strong motivation to hold such activities more in the future, in order to help students improve their English skills as well as establish friendship with each other.

Participants taking photos together